Storm skipper Cameron Smith shrugged off a possibly serious ankle injury that temporarily forced him off the field, while centre Mahe Fonua scored two late tries to seal the last-round win and a place in the playoffs.

Penrith and North Queensland can still leap-frog the Storm for fourth with wins against the Warriors and Manly respectively.

The Broncos need the Eels to lose to Canberra and must rely on the Panthers beating the Warriors by more than three points if they are to reach the finals after going down in an encounter worthy of a semi-final on Friday night.

Ryan Hoffman, in his last regular-season game for the Storm, crossed first in the 12th minute when he ran into a gaping hole off a Cameron Smith short ball.

The hosts were handed their second try when Justin Hodges failed to reel in Cooper Cronk's grubber and the Melbourne half-back simply had to dive on the loose ball.

Cronk's opposite number, Ben Hunt, got the Broncos on the board when he jinked his way down the short side and slammed the ball down.

Smith left the field with 11 minutes remaining in the first half with the injury diagnosed as a high ankle sprain, which usually means at least a week out.

The Storm looked in disarray in his absence, with the Broncos scoring one try and the video referee over-ruling an on-field decision to award another to Andrew McCullough.

At the same time Smith was injured, Brisbane skipper Corey Parker also left the field for a concussion test after a heavy knock after copping a forearm to the chin as he tried to tackle Bryan Norrie.

He returned in time to convert Jack Reed's 33rd-minute try for his side to trail 12-10.

Reed's night was cut short soon after when he dislocated his shoulder while making a charge in the final play of the first half.

Smith was back into the fray two minutes after the break, although the Storm did not have it all their own way.

Hodges made an executive decision to go for goal after the Broncos received a penalty 20 metres in from touch, and his co-captain Parker levelled things at 12 with half an hour left to play.

The Broncos' defence was resolute in the face of an unusually sloppy Storm attack as the teams continued to toil fruitlessly for the next 15 minutes.

Melbourne centre Mahe Fonua leapt high to take a Cooper Cronk bomb and then muscled his way across the line to break the deadlock.

Will Chambers, kicking in place of Smith, was unable to kick the conversion.

In the end it did not matter with Fonua intercepting a Ben Hunt pass and racing 55 metres, chased by three Broncos, to touch down.